December in WWE is traditionally quite quiet, the calm before the storm if you will before we reach Royal Rumble and set out on the road to WrestleMania.
But that’s not to say there aren’t significant moments that take place during this period, especially with WWE having more PPVs than they know what to do with, there is plenty of content for the fans to take in.
Perhaps too much, therefore, what this article aims to do is condense a whole week of news from across the whole wacky world of WWE into one bitesize article for your viewing pleasure.
With that said, let’s take a look at the most noteworthy moments from this week in WWE and decide what was good and what was bad.
#1 Good – Styles vs Ambrose at TLC
Let’s begin with the good and the undoubted match of the week, the TLC match between AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose for the WWE World Title.
Both men put their bodies on the line and certainly lived up to TLC’s billing of “WWE’s version of a demolition derby”. The spot of the match had to be AJ Styles’ phenomenal (pun very much intended) springboard 450 splash to the outside through a table, it was incredible.
In my opinion, this was the best match that Styles and Ambrose have had during this feud and it looks as though it will be their last, as Styles seems set to face a new challenger after retaining his Championship in this bout.
Unfortunately, the finish to this match was overshadowed by a chinless killjoy, but more on that later.
#2 Good – Corbin vs Kalisto at TLC
If somebody had told me last week that I would be including a Baron Corbin vs Kalisto in my best moments of the week I would have laughed in their face. But they managed to pull out a great match at TLC with very little intrigue or momentum behind them.
Plus, it was a ‘Chairs’ match, which is the ‘red-headed stepchild’ of all the TLC stipulations. Corbin and Kalisto certainly exceeded expectations in this match and delivered a compelling, physical match that made both men look stronger coming out of it.
Baron Corbin has seemingly been on the brink of a big push for a while now and hopefully the momentum he picked up from this match will lead to better things for ‘The Lone Wolf’.
#3 Good – Rusev’s ruse
Something else I enjoyed more than I thought I would this week was the continued feud between Rusev and Enzo Amore.
While I am a fan of both men, I feared this might be another storyline similar to the terrible love-quadrangle program that Rusev and Lana were involved in last year. But thankfully, it’s been entertaining, yes it’s been silly and a bit far-fetched, but isn’t that part of the reason we love pro-wrestling?
What I enjoyed about this week in particular was the storytelling over the course of an episode of Raw, that doesn’t happen nearly enough these days. The story of Rusev and Lana’s falling out and Lana’s proposed hotel rendezvous with Enzo to get back at her husband followed a logical path and kept the audience looking forward to the next chapter of Enzo’s story on Monday night.
Concluding with the reveal that this was all part of a plan hitched by Lana and Rusev, it furthered the feud and developed the personas of all involved, good job WWE.
#4 Good – Nakamura regains in Japan
The main event of this week’s NXT was the pre-recorded NXT Championship match between Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura from Osaka, Japan.
To be honest, none of the matches between NXT’s two biggest stars have blown me away, but they have still been good and this week’s bout in particular felt special due to the fact Nakamura would regain the Championship in his home country.
It will be interesting to see how much longer this rivalry will continue as it is widely expected that whomever ends the feud without the Championship will be elevated to WWE’s main roster.
#5 Good – 205 Live
I loved this week’s edition of ‘205 Live’. While nothing particularly outstanding happened, the show as a whole was entertaining, made sense and helped in beginning to establish a number of the Cruiserweight’s personas.
The fact that there are a number of feuds and meaningful matches taking place now has helped no end in getting the audience to invest in these performers.
Add to that the best commentary team in WWE currently, consisting of Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves and the brilliantly arrogant Austin Aries and the show as a whole is getting closer the capturing the magic that was found during the Cruiserweight Classic earlier this year.
Basically, I enjoyed everything about ‘205 Live’ this week. Well, almost everything…
#1 Bad – 205 Live’s placement
Having ‘205 Live’ take place after Smackdown on Tuesday nights is a terrible idea and is taking away from the strong content that the people involved are putting out each week.
To be brutally honest, the majority of fans attending these tapings are there to see the likes of AJ Styles, Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose on Smackdown Live, so you can’t really blame the fans that decide to leave once Smackdown has concluded instead of sticking around for ’205 Live’.
The show would be much better off by taking place earlier in the night as somewhat of a warm-up to Smackdown Live, even if that means that the show wouldn’t air live.
Currently, the lack of enthusiasm from the crowd is detrimental to the product and it’s easy to see why, the fans would be much more excited to see the Cruiserweights in action if it was before they had seen Smackdown’s main event stars.
#2 Bad – Nattie/Nikki nonsense
On to the feud that nobody is talking about, who attacked Nikki Bella at Survivor Series?
After being defeated by Nikki at TLC, Carmella would get on the microphone and claim that it was Natalya who was the mysterious attacker. This was a terrible reveal, if it is indeed the reveal, and got no reaction from the crowd, surely there was a better way for Carmella to point the finger at Natalya instead of just randomly deciding to say it after a match.
Then on Smackdown the following Tuesday, Carmella would come out and essentially repeat what she said at TLC before being chased by Natalya who continues to deny any involvement.
I have no interest in this feud currently and it doesn’t look like getting anymore exciting anytime soon. However, with rumours running rife that Mickie James has signed a deal to rejoin WWE’s main roster, could a massive twist occur that would reveal Mickie as Nikki’s mysterious atracker?
#3 Bad – Owens vs Zayn on Raw
I never thought that I’d be talking negatively about a Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn match, but when we were told that the match at Battleground would be ‘their last match ever’, while I never believed for a second that would be the case, I thought it would last longer than 5 months.
Also, for it to be thrown in randomly in the middle of a standard edition of Raw is disrespectful to the work that these rivals have put in over the years to make this one of the best feuds of the modern era.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with this match and we got the typically amazing match that we have learnt to expect from Owens and Zayn, but I couldn’t help but feel as though I didn’t want to be watching it right now. I think most people would rather that they stay apart until the time comes for their paths to cross again, and then you can build it up and make it feel special, as it should be.
#4 Bad – Senseless Smackdown
I was looking forward to this week’s post-TLC edition of Smackdown Live, with new Women’s and Tag Team Champions, plus a controversial finish to the Dean Ambrose vs AJ Styles match, I was intrigued as to where things would go next.
But as it turned out, it went nowhere significant this week. I do have sympathy with the writers as the injury that saw AJ Styles unable to compete in the scheduled main event would have caused a late re-write to the show, but still, I feel this week’s edition of Smackdown could have been so much more.
The Alexa Bliss title celebration was short and didn’t feel anywhere near as special as it should have, and the majority of matches on the show felt pointless and thrown together. Who wants to see The Ascension take on the Hype Bros. for no reason?
Hopefully things will improve soon as overall Smackdown has been good since the brand split, but it has to be said that it has lost some of it’s momentum in recent weeks and a lot of that could be down to one person…
#5 Bad – James Ellsworth
Remember when James Ellsworth was the loveable loser that turned up every once in a while? It seems like a long time ago, right?
As mentioned earlier, the AJ Styles vs Dean Ambrose TLC match on Sunday was great, right up until the expected, but dreaded, interference from Ellsworth. I guess it was wishful thinking that Styles’ brutal attack on Ellsworth on last week’s Smackdown would mean we wouldn’t see him at TLC.
The fun of the James Ellsworth character was ran dry and he is becoming a hinderance to Smackdown Live, particularly when he is continuously the deciding factor in the top feud on the show, it is affecting the prestige of the WWE World Title and is hurting AJ Styles’ legitimacy as Champion.
With Ellsworth recently being given a contract, it appears as though he will be sticking around for a while. But, he needs to transition away from the main event scene on Smackdown and it needs to happen soon.
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